This past Saturday, five dozen people took all their clothes off in Washington Square Park. Some of our members were among them.

Not only did no one call the cops on this display of naked bodies, but the cops were already there and fully supportive — they were present to make sure everything went smoothly and that none of the naked people were harassed or bothered. And none of us were.

Now, here’s an interesting fact: one day later, if any of us had tried to undress to the exact same extent in the exact same place, we would have gotten stopped, and maybe arrested, by those exact same cops. Does that make any sense to you?

Yes, Saturday was a special day: the 5th annual “New York Bodypainting Day” festival. For five years, artist Andy Golub has brought together fellow artists from all over the country and all over the world to paint nude models on one afternoon in the summer. And yes, there is an exception in the public indecency laws for nudity that occurs in the course of making or exhibiting art. That’s why no one got arrested on Saturday.

But what’s the logic? How can it possibly be the case that sixty fully naked women and men standing in a group is an inoffensive sight one day, but the following day even just one fully naked woman or man — perhaps lying among a bunch of sunbathers such as this group that watched us for hours on Saturday — is offensive enough to be deemed illegal?

The prude who says a breast, a vulva, a penis is always and automatically shameful may be wrong (in our humble opinion), but at least the prude is consistent. The person who says vulvas and penises are fine on Saturday but forbidden every other day is either the strangest Sabbath observer ever or else just a hypocrite.

But — as long as the hypocrites are making the rules, we’ll take such opportunities for freedom as we’re granted. One day each year when we can shed the last little vestiges of our clothes out in the park is better than none.

And this one was better than most. The weather was absolutely perfect (not a hint of rain in the sky), the crowd was supportive (not a complaint heard, at least by our ears), there were a pianist and a xylophonist nearby for musical accompaniment (randomly), and we even were graced with a street fair right outside the park, for when our thirst required fresh-squeezed lemonade to quench it (Andy kindly supplied some snacks as well, including unintentionally appropriate ones).

The art that emerged from this inspiring environment was suitably inspired. Meant to reflect this year’s theme, “Movement,” we saw everything from the literal, with moving flora and fauna–

…to the metaphorical, such as a bit of cubism (which began, remember, as an attempt to show movement on a static canvas — how great to see it attempted on a rippling moving canvas!)

…or the sort of movement that results in social change:

Speaking of which, we’re a bit of a movement ourselves, aren’t we? Sparking social change, making people think differently about what they’ve always assumed. Seeking freedom.

On Saturday we were free. In a way we rarely have the opportunity to be. Could Monday morning be just as free someday?

Yes. Someday. We firmly believe that. With or without paint, with or without clothes, bodies should be free.

If you’d like to join our little movement, drop us a note: toplesspulpfiction@gmail.com. With your help, we’ve got some brick walls we’d like to bust through together.

Someday. Yes. Once enough people have been exposed to the idea that bodies can be free without cause for concern. Until then more happenings like body painting day are needed to spread the idea. And they are, though slowly. If you hadn’t already heard, while you were busy getting painted, 278 of us were getting “Naked in a Cave”, at Howe Caverns up west of Albany. So, take heart, your dream for free bodies is slowly growing. BTW, they are making plans for next year, so maybe you can take your group. Check it out, I highly recommend it, everyone was having a great time.

Isn’t this the essence of compromise, though? Some people want nudity always, some people want nudity never, so the compromise is nudity sometimes.

Although I’m with you guys that any prohibition on nudity is fundamentally silly, I also feel that maybe we have lost the art of compromise a little bit, and maybe should be celebrating compromise when it is in action…

Oh, we agree — we’re not advocating nudity always, or nudity for everyone. Anyone who doesn’t want to go nude shouldn’t, that’s simple enough. And as for always, we’re not saying there should be no places where nudity isn’t permitted. No one’s proposing to go nude in a church, for instance. No one’s saying you should sit with a bare butt on subway seats. But a place where people go specifically to sunbathe, like a park or a beach? When people are already stripping down to almost nothing at all? Where toplessness is already permitted, meaning we’re literally one tiny triangle of fabric away from being naked anyway? And where on one day a year mass nudity is not only tolerated but celebrated? In that place it really does feel like it makes sense for nudity to be permitted.

The other problem with this event being only once a year is that of scheduling. This year I was unable to attend due to other commitments on Saturday. So I appreciate your posting this so I could see what I missed this year; it’s the next best thing to being there.

We took several hundred pictures! We chose our favorites for this blog post, and a few more for our tweet about it. But there are plenty more good ones. We’ll think about how we might share some of the others (without making this an all-bodypainting blog!).

Oh awesome! Have you girls ever considered making a Flickr account for your club, or something similar? I’m sure I’m not the only one who would love to see more of thr activities you write about in your blog posts 🙂

I think we might have a Flickr account, or Tumblr, or something, but we’ve got our hands full just managing this site and Twitter and Facebook, so we’ve let everything else go dormant. Only so many hours in the day, alas!